Fuel burner crossover arrangement

ABSTRACT

An elongated burner body having a series of fuel ports extending along the axis of the burner body is provided with a crossover fuel aperture adjacent the fuel inlet end of the burner. A crossover body comprising a hollow transversely extending member is provided with a crossover fuel inlet aperture from the downstream edge of which extends a depending scoop element. The crossover body is assembled on the burner body so that the crossover fuel apertures are in registration with each other. The scoop serves as a means for locating the crossover body with respect to the burner body and to direct fuel from the burner into the crossover. The scoop element is provided with an opening which allows a portion of the fuel mixture to pass through the opening to directly supply gas to the burner fuel ports most closely adjacent to the crossover and thereby to provide a dependable source of fuel for smooth ignition by the crossover.

Unite States Patent Wilkerson [451 Sept. 26, 1972 FUEL BURNER CROSSOVERARRANGEMENT [57] ABSTRACT An elongated burner body having a series offuel ports [72] Inventor: Herman W. Wilkerson, 500 Cliff Drive,Pasadena, Calif. 91 107 extending along the axis of the burner body ispro- 2 a n9 4 J1 o N D. m FA N 22 element. The crossover body isassembled on the burner body so that the crossover fuel apertures are in26 m8 3 8 32 m2 9 m m m3 m mh c .r "a e s i m d and MF Nod 55registration with each other. The scoop serves as a References Citedmeans for locating the crossover body with respect to UNITED STATESPATENTS the burner body and to direct fuel from the burner into thecrossover. The scoop element is provided with an opening which allows aportion of the fuel mixture to pass through the opening to directlysupply gas to the burner fuel ports most closely adjacent to thecrosall. 99 Ill DUN /33 44 3 u mm 4 4 mm enn r. 3 3?. m& .1

ehv r03 GLC 131 667 999 1111 765 49 369 328 997 233 sover and thereby toprovide a dependable source of Emmmer Edward Favors fuel for smoothignition by the crossover. Attorney-Harry G. Martin, Jr. and J. RaymondCurtin 6 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEDSW 1912 3594.133

INVENTOR.

HERMAN W. WILKERSON ATTORNEY FUEL BURNER CROSSOVER ARRANGEMENTBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to fuel burners andmore particularly to an improved crossover arrangement for ignition ofadjacent fuel burners.

For safety reasons, it is desirable that the ignition of any one burnerin a plurality of burners cause rapid ignition of the remaining burners.Such an arrangement is also desirable because it permits the fuelburning apparatus to be ignited with a single pilot. It is, therefore,common practice to provide a transverse fuel passage between adjacentburners which is known as a crossover. The crossover is disposedadjacent a similar crossover of an adjacent burner and is provided witha transverse fuel port. A pilot assembly is located for igniting thefuel discharged from the crossover port of one of the crossovers. Whenthe first crossover is ignited, the flame spreads to ignite itsassociated fuel burner and the adjacent crossover ports which, in turn,ignite their associated burners. Difficulties have been experienced withprior crossover arrangements in dependably and smoothly igniting theirassociated burners due to the crossover tending to interfere with fuelflow to the closely adjacent portion of the burner fuel ports. If thefuel ports adjacent the crossover member are starved for fuel, ignitionof its associated burner becomes-unreliable and slow. In extreme cases,an explosion hazard may be encountered due to excessive gas beingdischarged into the combustion chamber before the burner ignites.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with this invention, there isprovided a burner for a fuel mixture having a generally elongated burnerbody with suitable port means such as a series of slots or louvers fordischarging fuel to be burned along a substantial portion of the axiallength of the burner body. A crossover fuel aperture is formed in theburner body adjacent the fuel inlet end. A crossover body having agenerally transverse passage is formed with a corresponding crossoverfuel inlet aperture. 1-1 depending scoop element extends from thedownstream edge of the fuel aperture in the crossover body to deflectfuel from the burner body into the crossover. In addition, the scoopserves as a locating means for assembling the crossover body on ,theburner body and effectively forms a seal with the burner body to inhibitthe escape of fuel from between the burner and the crossover.

An aperture is formed in the scoop element to permit a portion of fuelgas to bypass the scoop and flow directly to the burner fuel portsadjacent the crossover body to insure an adequate supply of fuel to theadjacent burner ports for dependable lighting of the burner. 1

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a fuelburner assembly illustrating one of the burners and crossovers inexploded fashion;

FIG. 2 is a cross section through an assembled bumer and crossover; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the underside of the bottommember of the crossover.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Fuel burner assembly 10 isillustrated as including a plurality of generally cylindrical, elongatedfuel burner bodies secured with respect to a gas manifold 11 which isprovided with a plurality of spaced gas orifices l2 and a correspondingmounting stud 13 adjacent each gas orifice. Burner bodies 16, 17, 18 areprovided with burner fuel ports 19 which extend along a substantialportion of the axial length of the burner bodies. Fuel ports 19 in theillustrated embodiment comprise a plurality of transverse slots orlouvers centrally disposed across the top side of a generallycylindrical burner body, although it will be appreciated that any typeof fuel porting such as one or more axial slots may be employed.

Burner body 18, one of which is shown in exploded fashion in FIG. 1 tobetter illustrate its relation with the crossover member, is providedwith a gas inlet opening 20 adjacent the forward or upstream end thereofwhich is positioned adjacent and in coaxial alignment with gas orifice12. Body 18 comprises top and bottom members which are crimped or weldedtogether at their edges. Suitable air inlet openings 21 and 22 areprovided so that the stream of gas injected into the hollow interior ofthe burner body induces ambient air, referred to as primary air, intothe interior of the burner body where it mixes with the gas to form afuel mixture. The air and gas inlet openings, which form the fuel inletopening, as well as the burner body and mounting arrangement, may takeany desired form. In the illustrated embodiment, an axial slot 23,extending from air inlet 21, serves as a locating means for the burnerbody on manifold 11. The burner body is assembled on the manifold bytilting the body upwardly, inserting mounting stud 13 into air inlet 21,and allowing the burner body to rotate down around the manifold untilmounting stud 13 enters slot 23. The arcuate portions 24 at the inletend of the burner body engage the cylindrical exterior of the manifoldso that the open end of the burner is assembled in accurate coaxialregistration with gas orifice 12. A suitable air flow control means 25may be provided to control the amount of primary air induced in theburner, thereby adjusting the fuel mixture of gas and air supplied tothe burners. A burner crossover outlet fuel aperture 27 is formed in thetop side of the top member of body 18 and is axially located betweenfuel ports 19- and the end of the burner body adjacent manifold 1 l.

A crossover body or member 30 which comprises a generally transversefuel passage is provided on each burner body for ignition of adjacentfuel burners. In the embodiment illustrated, the crossover is formed ofa pair of sheet metal stampings which include a top member 31 and abottom member 32. Top member 31 has a downwardly protruding dimple 34and an upwardly expanded portion 35. The bottom portion of the crossovermember 32 has a downwardly expanded portion 36. When top member 31 isassembled with bottom member 32, a generally transverse hollow fuelpassage is formed in the crossover body. Dimple 34 rests on the flatperipheral rearward edge of bottom member 32 so that the forward andside edges of the top and bottom members are spaced to form a crossoverfuel port 33 along the entire rearward edges of crossover 30. The topand bottom members of the crossover member are secured to each other bysuitable means such as spot welds 37. The transverse fuel passage incrossover 30 of the preferred embodiment is shaped so as to provide atapering fuel passage as illustrated in the drawings in order toequalize the gas pressure and provide an even length of flame along theentire rearward edge of the crossover when ignited. The arrangementillustrated provides a very simple twopiece crossover member whichrequires only two stampings and a spot welding operation to complete.However, it will be appreciated that other types of crossover bodies maybe employed if desired.

In accordance with this invention, bottom member 32 of the crossovermember is formed with a crossover fuel inlet aperture 39. A scoopelement 40 extends axially forwardly and downwardly from the downstreamor rearward edge of bottom member 32. As illustrated in the drawing,scoop element 40 is preferably formed by a pair of tabs 41 and 42 whichare split and slightly spread along their axis to form a centralaperture or slot 43 in axial alignment with the crossover and burnerbodies. Crossover fuel inlet opening 39 and scoop 40 are preferablyformed simultaneously during the stamping operation which forms bottommember 32 by simply stamping a downwardly extending pair of tabs fromthe parent metal of member 32. Scoop element 40 preferably has aspherically contoured shape with a substantially triangular shapedopening defined by the.

spaced edges of the tabs'forming the scoop element and defines arectangular or semicircular crossover fuel inletaperture in crossoverbody 30. I

The two members 31, 32 forming the crossover body are first secured toeach other by some suitable means such as spot welds 37. Thecrossovermember 30 is then positioned on top of burner body 18 withscoop element 40 extending downwardly into the hollow burner bodythrough crossover fuel aperture 27. The distance between the transverseedges of scoop element 40 at their junction with the bottom of crossoverbody 30 is substantially the same as the transverse dimension ofaperture 27 and the axial dimension of aperture 39 may be substantiallythe same as the axial dimension of aperture 27 so that scoop 40 forms alocating means for crossover 30 on the burner. Consequently, thecrossover member is accurately aligned in the desired posi-' tion on theburner body without the need of fixtures or other locating means. Theflange portions 45 of crossover 30 are then secured to flange 46 on theburner body by suitable means such as spot welds 38.

In operation, a plurality of assembled burner bodies and crossovermembers are positioned in spaced relation along gas manifold 11. Asuitable pilot assembly 50 is disposed adjacent at least one of thecrossover members so that the pilot flame can impinge on fuel port 33 ofthe crossover. When gas is supplied from the manifold into the burnerbodies, a portion of the fuel mixture is passed upwardly into thecrossovers and discharged into the region of the pilot flame. The pilotignites the fuel discharged from the crossover and spreads transverselyfrom crossover to crossover until each of the crossovers is ignited. Atthe same time when the flame reaches the rear edge of the crossover,

it ignites fuel discharged from the fuel ports in 19 adjacent thecrossover. Aperture 43 in the scoop elements allows fuel to passdirectly through the scoop .element aperture to the fuel ports 19 mostclosely adjacent the rear edge of the crossover. Consequently, the scoopdoes not excessively reduce the supply of fuel to the portion of theburner ports adjacent the crossover port so that rapid and highlyreliable ignition of the burners is achieved.

It will be seen that byproviding a crossover with a scoop element inaccordance with this invention, the speed and reliability of the mainburner ignition is improved while, at thesame time, the scoop elementserves as a locating means for the crossover during manufacture and as aseal to reduce escape of fuel from between the burner body and crossovermember.

While a preferred embodiment of this invention has been described forpurposes of illustration, it will be appreciated that this I inventionmay be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.

lclaim:

l. A gas burner comprising an elongated hollow gas burner body havingfuel inlet opening means adjacent one end thereof, said burner bodyhaving fuel burner port means extending along the top side thereof fordischarging said fuel mixture along a substantial portion of the axiallength of said burner body, a crossover fuel aperture formed in the topside of said burner body between said one end of said burner body andthe other end thereof; a crossover body mounted on said burner body,said crossover body being hollow and forming a crossover fuel passageextending transversely of said sover fuel aperture in the crossover bodythrough the crossover fuel aperture in the burner body into the interiorthereof to deflect a portion of fuel mixture from the interior of saidburner body into said crossover body for passage through said crossoverfuel port means, said crossover scoop element having an opening formedtherein to allow another portion of the fuel mixture to pass from saidone end of said burner body through said opening in the scoop element toa portion of the fuel burner port means in the burner body locatedadjacent the crossover fuel port means of said crossover body.

2. A gas burner as defined in claim 1, wherein said opening in the scoopelement comprises a centrally disposed slot.

3. A gas burner as defined in claim 1, wherein said scoop elementcomprises a pair of tabs extending downwardly from the bottom of saidcrossover body, said opening in the scoop element comprising a slotbetween said tabs.

4. A gas burner as defined in claim 1, wherein said crossover scoopelement has a transverse dimension substantially the same as thetransverse dimension of the crossover fuel aperture in said burner bodyso that the scoop element serves as a locating means for said crossoverbody on said burner body and as a sealing means between said crossoverand burner bodies.

5. A gas burner comprising an elongated hollow gas burner body havingfuel inlet opening means adjacent one end thereof, said burner bodyhaving fuel burner port means extending along the top side thereof fordischarging a fuel mixture along a substantial portion of the axiallength of said burner body, a'crossover fuel aperture formed in the topof side of said burner body between said one end of said burner body andthe other end thereof; a crossover body mounted on said burner body,said crossover body being hollow and forming a crossover fuel passageextending transversely of said burner body, said crossover body definingcrossover fuel port means having a portion thereof disposed adjacent thefuel burner port means in said burner body and extending transverselytherefrom, said crossover body having a crossover fuel inlet apertureformed on downwardly from the downstream edge of the crossover fuelaperture in the crossover body through the crossover fuel aperture inthe burner body into the in terior thereof to deflect a portion of fuelmixture from the interior of said burner body into said crossover bodyfor passage through said crossover fuel port means, said crossover scoopelement having a transverse dimension substantially the same as thetransverse dimension of the crossover fuel aperture in the burner bodyso that the scoop element serves as a locating means for assembling thecrossover body on the burner body during assembly thereof.

6. A gas burner as defined in claim 5, wherein said crossover scoopelement has an opening formed therein to allow another portion of thefuel mixture to pass from said one end of the burner body through saidopening in the scoop element to a portion of the fuel the bottom sidethereof disposed in registration with said crossover fuel aperture onthe top side of said burner port means in the burner body locatedadjacent the crossover fuel port means of the crossover body.

a s 4: a:

1. A gas burner comprising an elongated hollow gas burner body havingfuel inlet opening means adjacent one end thereof, said burner bodyhaving fuel burner port means extending along the top side thereof fordischarging said fuel mixture along a substantial portion of the axiallength of said burner body, a crossover fuel aperture formed in the topside of said burner body between said one end of said burner body andthe other end thereof; a crossover body mounted on said burner body,said crossover body being hollow and forming a crossover fuel passageextending transversely of said burner body, said crossover body definingcrossover fuel port means having a portion thereof disposed adjacent thefuel burner port means in said burner body and extending transverselytherefrom, said crossover body having a crossover fuel inlet apertureformed on the bottom side thereof disposed in registration with saidcrossover fuel aperture on the top side of said burner body, and acrossover scoop element extending downwardly from the downstream edge ofthe crossover fuel aperture in the crossover body through the crossoverfuel aperture in the burner body into the interior thereof to deflect aportion of fuel mixture from the interior of said burner body into saidcrossover body for passage through said crossover fuel port means, saidcrossover scoop element having an opening formed therein to allowanother portion of the fuel mixture to pass from said one end of saidburner body through said opening in the scoop element to a portion ofthe fuel burner port means in the burner body located adjacent thecrossover fuel port means of said crossover body.
 2. A gas burner asdefined in claim 1, wherein said opening in the scoop element comprisesa centrally disposed slot.
 3. A gas burner as defined in claim 1,wherein said scoop element comprises a pair of tabs extending downwardlyfrom the bottom of said crossover body, said opening in the scoopelement comprising a slot between said tabs.
 4. A gas burner as definedin claim 1, wherein said crossover scoop element has a transversedimension substantially the same as the transverse dimension of thecrossover fuel aperture in said burner body so that the scoop elementserves as a locating means for said crossover body on said burner bodyand as a sealing means between said crossover and burner bodies.
 5. Agas burner comprising an elongated hollow gas burner body having fuelinlet opening means adjacent one end thereof, said burner body havingfuel burner port means extending along the top side thereof fordischarging a fuel mixture along a substantial portion of the axiallength of said burner body, a crossover fuel aperture formed in the topof side of said burner body between said one end of said burner body andthe other end thereof; a crossover body mounted on said burner body,said crossover body being hollow and forming a crossover fuel passageextending transversely of said burner body, said crossover body definingcrossover fuel port means having a portion thereof disposed adjacent thefuel burner port means in said burner body and extending transverselytherefrom, said crossover body having a crossover fuel inlet apertureformed on the bottom side thereof disposed in registration with saidcrossover fuel aperture on the top side of said burner body, and acrossover scoop element extending downwardly from the downstream edge ofthe crossover fuel aperture in the crossover body through the crossoverfuel aperture in the burner body into the interior thereof to deflect aportion of fuel mixture from the interior of said burner body into saidcrossover body for passage through said crossover fuel port means, saidcrossover scoop element having a transverse dimension substantially thesame as the transverse dimension of the crossover fuel aperture in theburner boDy so that the scoop element serves as a locating means forassembling the crossover body on the burner body during assemblythereof.
 6. A gas burner as defined in claim 5, wherein said crossoverscoop element has an opening formed therein to allow another portion ofthe fuel mixture to pass from said one end of the burner body throughsaid opening in the scoop element to a portion of the fuel burner portmeans in the burner body located adjacent the crossover fuel port meansof the crossover body.